Lately, the more I observe the crypto market, the more I feel — this circle has truly pushed itself to the limit. Every track is like a squeezed sponge, trying to extract a new story? It's difficult.

First, let's talk about DeFi. Old players like AAVE have long divided the market pretty evenly; the lending protocols have all the necessary features, and user habits are well established. If you now want to launch a new DeFi project? Unless you can work magic, it’s basically a no-go. The ceiling is clear and obvious.

As for MEME coins… honestly, they’re just a game of hot potato. Most projects don’t even bother to write a white paper, relying solely on community hype and emojis to maintain heat. Once the trend passes, they zero out faster than a roller coaster. Only a few top projects survive, and that depends on whether the community is loyal enough.

L2s are also having a tough time. Ethereum has upgraded and expanded itself — who still depends heavily on your layer-two solutions? More awkwardly, many L2 projects rely on siphoning ETH ecosystem value to survive, which ends up dragging down ETH’s own performance. This move is truly awkward.

What about public blockchains? ETH, SOL, BNB, TRX — they’ve all claimed their territory. Overlapping functions, similar scenarios — new blockchains want to break through? Unless you can tell a completely different story, it’s just a side show. The market no longer lacks underlying chains; what’s missing is genuine demand.

Stablecoins are even more solid. USDT and USDC dominate the market with their licenses and liquidity depth. Latecomers want a piece of the pie? Sorry, without resources or background, they can only play a marginal role and scrape by.

In decentralized perpetual contracts, HYPE has secured the top spot with real trading volume and user stickiness. Many other platforms? They’re just inflating data, creating a false boom. This bubble won’t last long — a small poke and it bursts.

Ultimately, what this industry lacks most isn’t projects; it’s new engines that can bring in incremental users and genuine demand. Playing the game of market share for too long has everyone exhausted.